I sold all of my lugged steel bikes and frames this summer and didn't even have
a bike to ride. I had wanted to try something different, so this was my
opportunity. I looked at many different bikes: Specialized, Litespeed, Bianchi,
Trek, etc., and after test riding a few of them I decided on the Giant TCR 3.



I bought this Giant on July 28th of this year at Tom's River Trails Bike Shop in
Tulsa. They did an excellent job building it up and were great to work with.
This Giant TCR C3 is a beautiful blue and carbon color in a compact 50cm
frameset sized M (medium). It has an effective top tube length of 55.4, which
makes it the equivalent of a 54-56cm standard size road bike. This Giant TCR 3
has a full-carbon frame, carbon fiber fork and seatpost, and great components
like a Shimano 10 speed drive train, Truvativ Elita compact double crankset,
paired spoked wheels, Easton stem and handlebars, Michelin tires, etc. The bike
retails for $1800 and is a great value at that price.



A full listing of this Giant TCR 3, as well as the geometry information, can be
found at:



http://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/030.000.000/030.000.006.asp?model=11256



or at



http://tinyurl.com/qypw7



I have ridden the bike five times for a total of 100 miles, and each time have
averaged about ½ mile per hour faster on my average speed over the same routes
than on my older steel bikes. This bike feels so much lighter than my older
steel bikes, yet it has no flex when sprinting or climbing and is rock-steady
descending hills. I am very impressed with how well Giant has tuned the ride on
these bikes and how well they have chosen the component package for this bike.



If the bike is so great, and the ride so nice, and my average speeds so much
better, you might be wondering why I am selling it. Here are a few reasons.



The first is that for about 15 years I have ridden a 53/39 crankset with 170mm
crankarms. The crankset on this Giant is a 50/36 crankset with 172.5mm
crankarms. I have been hit by a car once when riding, which resulted in damage
to my left knee. I also had surgery on my right knee a few years after that.
Plus, now I find myself getting older ;-) My experience has been that, due to
these injuries, I don't have much tolerance for changes to my mechanics. I know
folks that go from 170mm to 175mm crankarms with no problems, and from 53/39
cranksets to 50/36 with ease, but I am not one of those folks. It might seem as
if changing a crankset would be a relatively easy fix, but that takes me to the
next reason I am selling this Giant.



The second reason is that for the past fifteen years I have ridden lugged steel
frames with 1" headtubes and quill stems and, for the past eight years or so,
have ridden Shimano 9 speed components. In that time I have accumulated parts
and tools.a lot of them. Cranksets, cassettes, derailleurs, shifters, extra
threaded forks, quill stems and handlebars, Park and Shimano tools, etc., all of
which are for steel bikes with Shimano Ultegra 9 speed components. I bought all
of this equipment because I am 100 miles away from the closest bike shop, plus I
was buying and selling bikes and frames as a hobby, so I had to be able to build
and repair them myself. The Giant TCR 3 has a threadless headset, 1 1//8"
headtube, oversize handlebars, threadless fork and stem, Truvativ bottom bracket
and cranks, none of which I have replacement parts or tools for. I have too much
money invested right now in the Shimano 9 speed parts and tools not to use and
stay with them.



This brings me to the final reason I am selling this Giant TCR 3. As much as I
like getting to ride bikes, I enjoy just as much building them up myself and
working on them. I guess this is my form of stress relief (since I can't grow a
garden), but I take great pleasure in taking a bike from the bare frame and fork
and building it into a complete bike that I can ride. I can't remember the last
time I bought a bike that was already built up (other than this Giant). I want
to continue to ride bikes that I build up, and want to be able to work on them,
but don't have the tools or parts to do so on the Giant. I am going to continue
to build up my own bikes and use the parts and tools I have, almost none of
which are compatible with the Giant TCR 3.



As I mentioned, this high-end Giant TCR 3 retails for $1800. I have ridden it
100 miles and have added a pair of matching silver water bottle cages. I have
only ridden the saddle once as I changed it to one I am used to riding. I am
offering this near-new Giant to the Oklahoma lists for $1200. I will list it on
eBay next week, and if it doesn't sell there as a complete bike I will part it
out and sell it that way on eBay. I don't have any pictures of the bike here at
the house, but it looks just like the picture in the Giant link above.



If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.



Thanks,



Frank in McAlester


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